selected ufo cases

Sightings by Police

November, 27, 1976 - Milbank, South Dakota, United States

Police radio dispatcher witnesses a large, somewhat egg-shaped object, blue at its base, but flashing multi-colored lights (mostly red) higher up and having two protruding legs or antennae. Object returns again on three separate occasions.
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Case Type: StandardCase
Features:
E-M Effects, Police

April, 22, 1976 - Elmwood, Wisconsin, United States

At about 11 p.m., George Wheeler, a relief policeman at the town of Elmwood, WI, encountered a strange glowing object which he estimated was about 500 feet distant and hovering about 100 feet off the ground. There were six bluish-white lights, windows or portholes on the side and he could see shadows as if someone was moving inside of it. This case involves apparent electro-mechanical effects, multiple witnesses, and possible animal reaction.
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1975 - New York, United States

From the witness: "It was approximately the size of a high school football field, but not quite as wide. It had lights on each end and in the middle with blue square lights all across the back end of the wings.... We noticed that there was absolutely no sound at all and that it didn't fluctuate or "flutter" and that it just floated in the air. We saw structure, that is we saw the body of the vehicle. No rivets or seams, just the silver/grey color of the body."
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Source: Brian Vike, HBCCUFO Research (hbccufo.org)
ID: 1066

August, 13, 1970 - Hadersley, Denmark

Danish police officer Evald Maarup was driving through the countryside near Hadersley, when he encountered a brilliantly lit UFO. Suddenly there was a fierce light beaming down on him, his car engine cut out, and the car lights and his radio stopped working. Above him, Maarup could make out a large circular object which he watched for about five minutes, before it moved away rapidly. Three years later, Maarup had another encounter with the same or a similar object at exactly the same place.
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Source: UFOs at Close Sight - Ufologie.net
ID: 734

December, 3, 1967 - Ashland, Nebraska, United States

Sgt. Schirmer was on patrol when he encountered a UFO hovering above the road, which shot up when he flashed his high beams at the object. Soon, Schirmer realized he had experienced "missing time", and a red welt appeared on his neck. Hypnotic sessions revealed that the occupants of the landed craft came and took Schirmer aboard, and communicated with him through some form of mental telepathy. They told him that they would visit him twice more and that some day he would "see the universe".
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August, 9, 1966 - Richmond , Virginia, United States

"I happened to look up and there was that UFO right above the cornfield, it was just hovering right up above the power lines" about 200 feet in the air, Mathews said. The craft, which Mathews described as white and about 30 feet in diameter, made hardly a sound and emitted no light. "It was just like the ones you see on TV," Mathews said.
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Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch (Virginia), October, 1999
ID: 1073

April, 17, 1966 - Portage County, Ohio, United States

One of the most dramatic encounters by police officers with an apparently structured, low-level UFO. Officers chased the object for eighty-five miles, as it seemed to play a cat-and-mouse game with them. This case was the basis for the UFO "chase" in the film 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind.'
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Source: Richard Hall, NICAP website
ID: 79

Case Type: MajorCase
Features:
Police, Witness Sketch, Humming

March, 14, 1966 - Dexter-Hillsdale, Michigan, United States

Washtenaw County sheriffs and police in neighboring jurisdictions reported disc-shaped objects moving at fantastic speeds and making sharp turns, diving and climbing, and hovering. At one point, four UFOs in straight-line formation were observed. Selfridge AFB confirmed tracking UFOs over Lake Erie at 4:56 a.m. Their stories were backed up by more than 100 witnesses
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Source: FUFOR (Fund for UFO Research)
ID: 778

September, 16, 1965 - Pretoria, South Africa

On the night of September 16 two Pretoria, S. Africa, constables came upon a disc-shaped object resting on the highway. The headlights of their police van illuminated the copper-colored object which appeared to be about 30 feet in diameter. On top of the UFO was a small dome. In seconds the UFO suddenly lifted off the road, emitting tongues of flame.
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Case Type: StandardCase
Features:
Police, Physical Trace, Landing

September, 3, 1965 - Damon, Texas, United States

Purple and blue lights were attached to opposite ends of an enormous object, hovering about 150 feet from witnesses at about a 100-foot altitude. Object appeared to be triangular shaped, about 200 feet wide and 40-50 feet thick in the middle, tapering off toward both ends.
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Case Type: StandardCase
Features:
Police, Witness Photo

September, 3, 1965 - Exeter, New Hampshire, United States

Norman Muscarello, a teenage Navy recruit, was walking down a quiet country highway at night, when suddenly, a huge object loomed above him. Thus began the "Incident at Exeter," a series of sightings officially qualified as "unidentified." The encounters that night took special precedence over other UFO sightings because of the credibility of two Exeter police officers who also saw the UFO, as well as that of the dispatcher and supervising officer who first heard Muscarello's account.
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Source: The Portsmouth Herald (Portsmouth, NH), Sept. 2, 2005
ID: 426

Case Type: MajorCase
Features:
Police, Animal Reaction, Witness Photo

April, 24, 1964 - Socorro, New Mexico, United States

The experience of Lonnie Zamora on April 24, 1964 stands as one of the most profound ufo events in the modern history of the phenomena. Lonnie Zamora saw a highly unusual device of unknown origin, what can only be described as a "craft" of some kind, and he reported seeing what he believes were occupants.
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Source: Chris Lambright
ID: 90

September, 26, 1963 - Sunnyvale, California, United States

During the early morning of September 26, 1963, a UFO was sighted by people in scattered locations around the San Francisco Bay area. Officer Galen Anderson of Sunnvale Police Dept. observed the UFO for 45 seconds and submitted a particularly detailed report. This object appeared larger than a full moon, according to Officer Anderson, about basketball size at about 8 feet away.
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Case Type: StandardCase
Features:
Police, Group Sighting

September, 15, 1962 - Oradell, New Jersey, United States

A series of New Jersey police sightings after a reported disc landing in a reservoir. The action began on September 15, when two shiny discs were seen by multiple independent witnesses. On September 21, four Hawthorne police officers watched a device with two beams like headlights. Just after midnight, September 24, the same or a similar device was seen over the quarry by over a dozen Hawthorne police officers and the chief reporter of the N. J. State Press, George Della Penta.
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Source: Waterufo.net / NICAP UFO Investigator, Oct/Nov 1962
ID: 796

August, 13, 1960 - Red Bluff, California, United States

California Highway Patrol Officers Charles A. Carson and Stanley Scott were on patrol when they sighted what they thought was an airliner about to crash. When the UFO had descended to about 100 or 200 feet altitude it suddenly reversed direction and climbed to 500 ft. Description: round or oblong surrounded by a glow (color not mentioned) and having definite red lights at each end. They continued to watch the UFO as it performed "unbelievable" aerial feats. (NICAP, 1964)
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Source: Loy Lawhon, About.com
ID: 107

Case Type: MajorCase
Features:
E-M Effects, Radar, Police

December, 20, 1958 - Dunellen, New Jersey, United States

Patrolmen LeRoy A. Arboreen and B. Talada were on night patrol when they saw an object coming from the west. "At first it looked like a red hot piece of coal about the size of a quarter held at arm's length. In a matter of seconds it was as large as a ruler held at arm's length... The body of the object was solid bright red and it gave off a pulsating red glow... The object hovered a few seconds, then made a left turn and again hovered for a few seconds, then went straight up like a shot."
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